MassDOT – Page 15 – WalkMassachusetts

Walk/Bike Assessment Main Street Northampton

By WalkMassachusetts | January 18, 2016

Northampton is one of 18 communities participating in the MassDOT multi -disciplined program to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety in Massachusetts. One of the components of the MassDOT program is to conduct walk and bike assessments that identify infrastructure challenges to biking and walking, and recommend short- and long-term improvements. These assessments are also a means of building local knowledge of the importance of well-designed bicycle and pedestrian facilities. WalkBoston and MassBike conducted an assessment of Main Street in downtown Northampton.

Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-BicycleandPedestrianInfrastructureAssessment-Northhampton

Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Assessments Dennis

By WalkMassachusetts | December 7, 2015

Dennis is one of 18 communities participating in the MassDOT multi-disciplined program to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety in Massachusetts. One of the components of the MassDOT program is to conduct walk and bike assessments that identify infrastructure challenges to biking and walking, and recommend short- and long-term improvements. These assessments are also a means of building local knowledge of the importance of well-designed bicycle and pedestrian facilities. WalkBoston and MassBike conducted assessments along Route 6A between Old Bass River Road and Nobscusset Road, and at three Cape Cod Rail Trail road crossings near the South Gages/Great Western Road intersection.

Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-Bicycle&PedestrianInfrastructureAssessment-Dennis

Letter of Support for Belchertown’s Reconstruction of Maple and State Street: Project Need

By WalkMassachusetts | October 15, 2015

Mr. Richard J. Masse, P.E.
Acting District Highway Director
811 North King St. Northampton, MA 01016

October 15, 2015

Dear Mr. Masse,

I am writing to express my support for Belchertown’s Project Need Form for the reconstruction of Maple Street and State Street. I am the Program Director at WalkBoston, a state-wide non-profit working to create more pedestrian-friendly communities across Massachusetts. We provide technical assistance to municipalities in partnership with MassDOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Awareness and Enforcement program, as well as the Department of Public Health’s Mass in Motion program to promote physical activity and healthy living. We are proud to work closely with our partner and Mass in Motion grantee Healthy Hampshire to support efforts to make Belchertown more walkable.

On May 1, 2015, in partnership with Healthy Hampshire, WalkBoston conducted a walk audit of the Route 202 corridor along Maple Street and State Street to assess existing pedestrian conditions and identify potential infrastructure improvements. Eighteen Belchertown residents, as well as municipal staff from the Planning Department and Conservation Commission, attended the walk audit. The audit found a number of barriers to walking along the Route 202 corridor, including a lack of continuous sidewalks on both sides of the road, a lack of pedestrian safety facilities such as signage, pedestrian lights, raised crosswalks and detectable warning strips, and overly long crosswalks.

The pending redevelopment of the Belchertown state school on Route 202 presents a powerful opportunity to incorporate more pedestrian-friendly designs and infrastructure into this important corridor. Traffic calming techniques, continuous sidewalks and/or off-road paved paths, beautification of public spaces, and better connectivity to local trail networks will all improve the walking environment in Belchertown. Implementing these measures will enhance Belchertown residents’ access to their homes, businesses, schools and social services, as well as future economic opportunities from the state school redevelopment.

Thank you for your timely consideration of these issues. WalkBoston looks forward to working with you to advance active transportation and safe walking in Belchertown.

Sincerely,

Stacey Beuttell
Program Director, WalkBoston

TIGER VII Application, Union Square Multimodal Improvement Support Letter

By WalkMassachusetts | June 2, 2015

June 2, 2015

Secretary Anthony Foxx
U.S Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

Re: Support for TIGER VII Application, Union Square Multimodal Improvement Project

Dear Secretary Foxx, On behalf of WalkBoston, I am writing to express support for the City of Somerville’s TIGER VII grant application to help fund the Union Square Multimodal Improvement Project. WalkBoston has been working for many years with Somerville as the City has actively pursued better non‐ motorized transportation choices. There are many reasons why the construction of this crucial project should be funded at this time.

The Union Square Multimodal Improvement Project will provide badly‐needed infrastructure improvements to a historic downtown district. The project includes roadway and streetscape improvements that will improve traffic flow through the Square, enhance pedestrian and bicycle connections, and create additional plaza and green space for civic life.
A highly anticipated MBTA light rail station is under construction in Union Square with adjacent land cleared for redevelopment. Funding will allow the City to improve access to new transit in one of New England’s most densely populated, but traditionally underserved, commercial districts.
This proposed multimodal project meets the objectives clearly laid out by Secretary Foxx’s Safer People, Safer Streets Action Plan to Increase Walking and Biking and Reduce Pedestrian and Bicycle Fatalities. This plan increases access and connectivity to existing and planned bus and transit systems, linking transportation systems into a multimodal network.
The Union Square Multimodal Project is widely supported by residents and businesses of Somerville. Extensive neighborhood planning and public input continues to be a priority as the project moves into later stages of design.
The Union Square Improvement Project is consistent with DOT’s Policy on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation which emphasizes multimodal transportation systems and with the interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities policy to “develop safe, reliable and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nations’ dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote public health.”

Thank you for considering this important project for funding,

Sincerely,

Wendy Landman
Executive Director

Coalition For Anderson Bridge Underpass Letter to Secretary Pollack

By WalkMassachusetts | April 9, 2015

COALITION FOR ANDERSON BRIDGE UNDERPASS
c/o Charles River Conservancy, 4 Brattle Street (Suite 309), Cambridge, MA 02138

April 9, 2015

Stephanie Pollack, Secretary of Transportation
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA

Dear Secretary Pollack,

We are writing to let you know of our enthusiasm and support for the work underway at MassDOT to develop 25% design plans for an underpass on the Boston side of the Charles River under the Anderson Memorial Bridge, to be used by pedestrians, runners, cyclists and others. This underpass, through the bridge abutment, would add significantly to the Paul Dudley White pathway system by eliminating the need for many users to cross the busy surface intersection of the ramps from Soldiers’ Field Road and JFK/North Harvard Street.

The underpass would be an extremely important addition to the excellent surface changes now under construction at the Anderson Bridge. This combination of improving the movements – both cross-river (already underway) and along-the-river (with the addition of an underpass) – will increase safety, enhance the environment, and provide improved transportation service not only to the users of the underpass, but also to the vehicles, pedestrians and others who use the surface crossings, including the Harvard community on both sides. We believe that the evolving design is being developed in a manner that respects the historic nature of the bridge.

We strongly oppose the alternative for this project (being developed to comply with legal review as part of the current design process) that would create a boardwalk that would be located under one of the current bridge arches and occupy part of the river used by the boating community.

To maximize cost-effectiveness and maintain the momentum for the underpass project initiated when your predecessor endorsed the project in July 2014, it is our hope that the design and permitting of the underpass can be completed in time to enable its construction as part of the ongoing activities at the bridge. Expediting design and permitting consistent with all legal requirements will be required to accomplish this objective.

As advocates for the project, we have been kept informed of the progress of design work by Gill Engineering under the direction and support of the Highway Administration. We look forward to the earliest possible public meeting where this design work can be described for wide public review and participation.

We also would like to offer to you, the Department and the Highway Administration our continuing, supportive involvement as this project moves forward.

This underpass will be a major step to enhance the Charles River Parklands, one of the Boston area’s major assets, for at least the next hundred years.

Sincerely,

Katherine Blakeslee, Institute for Human-Centered Design
Greg Galer, Executive Director, Boston Preservation Alliance
Jack Glassman, Boston Society of Architects, Historic Resources Committee
Ken Kruckemeyer, LivableStreets Alliance
Wendy Landman, Executive Director, Walk Boston
Galen Mook, Boston Cyclists Union
Jon Puz, Cambridge Running Club
Renata von Tscharner, President and Founder, Charles River Conservancy
Jack Wofford, mediator and arbitrator

cc: Thomas J. Tinlin, Highway Administrator, MassDOT Michael Trepanier, Project Manager, MassDOT